The dissolved air at the bottom layer of the deep aeration tank transforms into fine gas bubbles within the MLSS (Mixed Liquor Suspended Solid) floc when exposed to the atmosphere. MLSS floc flotation occurs when MLSS from the deep aeration tank enters the secondary clarifier for solid-liquid separation, as dissolved air becomes fine air within the MLSS floc. The floated MLSS floc causes a high SS (Suspended Solid) concentration in the secondary effluent. The fine air bubbles within the MLSS floc must be removed to achieve stable sedimentation in the secondary clarifier. Fine bubbles within the MLSS floc can be removed by air sparging. The settleability of MLSS was measured by sludge volume indexes (SVIs) after air sparging MLSS taken at the end of the deep aeration tank. MLSS settling tests were performed at MLSS heights of 200, 300, 400, and 500 mm, and compressed air was fed at the bottom of the settling column with air flow rates of 100, 300, and 500 ml/min at each MLSS height, respectively. Also, at each height and air flow rate, air was sparged for 3, 5, and 7 minutes, respectively. SVI was determined for each height, air flow rate, and sparging time, respectively. Experimental results showed that a 300 mm MLSS height, 300 ml/min air flow rate, and 3 minutes of sparging time were the least conditions to achieve less than 120 ml/g of SVI, which was the criterion for good MLSS settling in the secondary clarifier.

Cobalt (Co) is mainly used to prepare cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and binder metals for WC-Co hard metals. Developing an effective method for recovering Co from WC-Co waste sludge is of immense significance. In this study, Co is extracted from waste cemented carbide soft scrap via mechanochemical milling. The leaching ratio of Co reaches approximately 93%, and the leached solution, from which impurities except nickel are removed by pH titration, exhibits a purity of approximately 97%. The titrated aqueous Co salts are precipitated using oxalic acid and hydroxide precipitation, and the effects of the precipitating agent (oxalic acid and hydroxide) on the cobalt microstructure are investigated. It is confirmed that the type of Co compound and the crystal growth direction change according to the precipitation method, both of which affect the microstructure of the cobalt powders. This novel mechanochemical process is of significant importance for the recovery of Co from waste WC-Co hard metal. The recycled Co can be applied as a cemented carbide binder or a cathode material for lithium secondary batteries.

The ballasted flocculation effects of the mill scale and magnetite on activated sludge were investigated. Both ballasted flocculants (BF) could remarkably improve the sludge settleability in terms of zone settling velocity (ZSV) and sludge volume index (SVI). With the BF dosage of 0.2 to 2.0 g-BF/g-SS, the magnetite particles showed better efficiency on improving settling behavior of activated sludge than the mill scale due to higher surface area and hydrophobic property. The efficiency of SVI30 with magnetite injection was 2.5 to 11.3% higher than mill scale injection and that of the ZSV appreciated from 23.7% to 44.4% for magnetite injection. Averaged floc size of the BF sludge with magnetite dosage (0.5 g-BF/g-SS) was 2.3 times higher than that of the control sludge. Dewaterability of the sludge was also greatly improved by addition of the BF. The specific resistance to filtration (SRF) was reduced exponentially with increasing the dosage of BF. However, the BF’s particle size effect on the SRF looks to be marginal. Consequently, for improving the dewaterability, the BF played a physical role to remove the pore water of the biological flocs by intrusive attachment and a chemical role to induce aggregation of the flocs by charge neutralization.

The effects of activated carbon originated Ballasted Flocculant (BF) on the settleability of activated sludge and the recovery of BF by Hydro-cyclone (HC) were analyzed experimentally. Two kinds of BF (M-I: 125-250 μm, M-II: 250-425 μm in dia.) and three kinds of activated sludges with different SS concentration (2,300-7,100 mg/L) were applied for this study. With the dosage variation of BF from 0.14 to 1.3 g-BF/g-SS, we could obtain 24-31% improvement in SV30 (Sludge Volume after 30min sedimentation) for the lowest SS concentration sludge (2,300 mg/L). Whereas the SV30 improvement was much higher as 44-48% for the highest SS concentration sludge (7,100 mg/L). The settling characteristics of the sludge with BF followed Vesilind model the best among three models (Vesilind, Takacs and Cho model). HC could effectively separate BF with the separation efficiency of 70-90% and over 95% separation efficiency could be obtained when the HC was applied twice.

In this work, the results obtained from the simulation of sedimentation of an elliptical cylinder in a viscous fluid are presented. The fluid flow velocity and pressure fields are evaluated by the famous lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). A smoothed profile method (SPM) is considered to enforce the no-slip boundary condition at the curved boundaries of the elliptical cylinder. The coupling between LBM LBM: Lattice Boltzmann Method and SPM SPM: Smoothed Profile Method is done by adding a hydrodynamic force term to the discretized version of the lattice Boltzmann equation. At first, the developed numerical code is validated by applying it to the unbounded laminar flow over an elliptical cylinder for different values of Reynolds number, Re. Later, simulations are carried out for sedimentation of an elliptical particle in a closed enclosure by considering different values for Re defined by terminal settling velocity of the cylinder. The robustness and accuracy of present simulation technique is assessed by comparing the particle trajectories and orientations obtained at different Re with the results from the existing literature. It is observed that, over a period of time, the particle attains steady state constant velocity and sediments horizontally when Re is low (Re=1.9) and moderate (Re=12.6). Whereas, an oscillating pattern for the sedimentation velocity is observed when Re is 32.9.

Eutrophication and algal blooms can lead to increase of taste and odor compounds and health problems by cyanobacterial toxins. To cope with these eco-social issues, Ministry of Environment in Korea has been reinforcing the effluent standards of wastewater treatment facilities. As a result, various advanced phosphorus removal processes have been adopted in each wastewater treatment plant nation-widely. However, a lot of existing advanced wastewater treatment processes have been facing the problems of expensive cost in operation and excessive sludge production caused by high dosage of coagulant. In this study, the sedimentation and dissolved air flotation (SeDAF) process integrated with sedimentation and flotation has been developed for enhanced phosphorus removal in wastewater treatment facilities. Design and operating parameters of the SeDAF process with the capacity of 100 m3/d were determined, and a demonstration plant has been installed and operated at I wastewater treatment facility (located in Gyeonggi-do) for the verification of field applicability. Several empirical evaluations for the SeDAF process were performed at demonstration-plant scale, and the results showed clearly that T-P and turbidity values of treated water were to satisfy the highest effluent standards below 0.2 mg/L and 2.0 NTU stably for all of operation cases.

To remove phosphorus from the effluent of public wastewater treatment facilities, hundreds of enhanced phosphorus treatment processes have been introduced nationwide. However, these processes have a few problems including excessive maintenance cost and sludge production caused by inappropriate coagulant injection. Therefore, the optimal decision of coagulant dosage and automatic control of coagulant injection are essential. To overcome the drawbacks of conventional phosphorus removal processes, the integrated sedimentation and dissolved air flotation(SeDAF) process has been developed and a demonstration plant(capacity: 100 m3/d) has also been installed. In this study, various jar-tests(sedimentation and / or sedimentation·flotation) and multiple regression analyses have been performed. Particularly, we have highlighted the decision–making algorithms of optimal coagulant dosage to improve the applicability of the SeDAF process. As a result, the sedimentation jar-test could be a simple and reliable method for the decision of appropriate coagulant dosage in field condition of the SeDAF process. And, we have found that the SeDAF process can save 30 – 40% of coagulant dosage compared with conventional sedimentation processes to achieve total phosphorus (T-P) concentration below 0.2 mg/L of treated water, and it can also reduce same portion of sludge production.

Even though sewers have been conventionally designed to prevent from sediment deposition using a specified minimum velocity or shear stress at a particular depth of flow or with a particular frequency of occurrence, it was appreciated that these methods do not consider the characteristics and concentration of the sediment and the specific hydraulic conditions of the sewer with sediment. In this study, a densimetric Froude number formula was suggested considering particle diameter and volumetric concentration of the sediment as well as flow depth and flowrate, based on several domestic field inspections, which was compared with other formulas proposed by previous investigators. When the sediment concentration was not considered, the calibration coefficient of 0.125-1.5 to the densimetric Froude numbers of this study was needed to obtain the similar ones with previous investigators’. For the densimetric Froude number formula obtained with consideration of sediment concentration, the exponent value of term Cv was almost the same as that of previous results and that of d50/Rh was similar for Fr < 2.2.

이 연구는 초기 넙치종묘 (2.69±0.35 g)를 바이오플락으로 6개월간 1차 양성한 넙치를 이용하여, 침전조 매질 (대조구, 바이어볼, 파판)별 7개월간 사육양성을 수행하였다. 7개월간 모니터링 결과 수질은 초기 이후, 주요 독성물질인 암모니아 및 아질산 1 mg L-1 이하로 안정적으로 유지되었다. 사료계수 (FCR)는 사육 5~6개월에 대조구에서 유의적으로 낮게 나타났지만, 사육 7개월에는 높은 성장을 나타내며 다른 구간과 비슷한 사료계수를 나타내었다. 본 실험에서 모든 시스템에서 안정적인 성장과 수질환경이 유지되었으며, 본 실험 모니터링 결과는 최근 환경오염으로 문제가 되고 있는 유수식 넙치양식에서 친환경 미래양식인 바이오플락으로의 전환을 위한 기초자료로 활용될 수 있을 것이다.

We report a method for preparing rare earth oxides (RexOy) from the recycling process for spent Ni-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries. This process first involves a leaching of spent Ni-MH powders with sulfuric acid at 90℃, resulting in rare earth precipitates (i.e., NaRE(SO4)2·H2O, RE = La, Ce, Nd), which are converted into rare earth oxides via two different approaches: i) simple heat treatment in air, and ii) metathesis reaction with NaOH at 70℃. Not only the morphological features but also the crystallographic structures of all products are systematically investigated using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD); their thermal behaviors are also analyzed. In particular, XRD results show that some of the rare earth precipitates are converted into oxide form (such as La2O3, Ce2O3, and Nd2O3) with heat treatment at 1200℃; however, secondary peaks are also observed. On the other hand, rare earth oxides, RExOy can be successfully obtained after metathesis of rare earth precipitates, followed by heat treatment at 1000℃ in air, along with a change of crystallographic structures, i.e., NaRE(SO4)2·H2O → RE(OH)3 → RExOy.

5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a pyrimidine analog which can work as antineoplastic antimetabolite by blocking thymidylate synthetase conversion of deoxyuridylic acid to thymidylic acid in DNA synthesis. This study is aimed to know the anticancer effect of 5-FU on the expressions of important signaling proteins in KB cells through immunoprecipitation high performance liquid chromatography (IP-HPLC). KB cells were treated with 5 μM 5-FU and cultured for 12, 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours, and followed by IP-HPLC analysis using 32 antisera. 5-FU suppressed the proliferation of KB cells by decreases in the expressions of proliferation-related proteins, Ki-67, PCNA, CDK4, and MPM2 to 82.6%, 92.4%, 95.2%, and 95.9%, respectively, but increases of antiproliferation-related proteins, p16 and p21 to 106.7% and 125.5%, respectively, during 96 hours of experiment. This proliferation reduction was also negatively regulated by cMyc/MAX/MAD network signaling. The cellular protection and survival were consistently arrested by 5-FU treatment in KB cells. The expressions of NFkB, MDR, p-mTOR, and TNFα were decreased to 95.1%, 92.8%, 93.4%, and 90.3% in 48-72 hours, respectively, while cellular stress was increased by upregulation of p38 to 111.3% in 48 hours. And the expressions of pAKT1/2/3, hTERT, and AMPK were also decreased to 93.3%, 97.4%, and 89.3% in 24-48 hours, respectively, while the cellular transformation might be undergone by upregulation of TGF-β1 to 117% until 96 hours. Particularly, 5-FU treatment greatly induced the cellular apoptosis in KB cells by increased expressions of PARP, cPARP, caspase 9, c-caspase 9, caspase 8, and caspase 3 in the lack of p53/BAX and FASL/FAS signaling. The expressions of PARP and c-PARP were increased maximum to 119.2% in 24 hours, and followed by increases of caspase 9, c-caspase 9, caspase 8, and caspase 3 to 111.2%, 125.9%, 108.6%, and 116.3% in 72-96 hours. Therefore, it is presumed that 5-FU induced cellular apoptosis in KB cells may be derived from the overexpression of PARP due to the increased DNA defect caused by 5-FU, which can lead to ATP depletion and subsequent cellular apoptosis.

파라핀 왁스가 녹아있는 왁스오일은 주위 온도가 내려감에 따라 왁스의 침전이 시작된다. 침 전이 시작하는 온도를 왁스생성온도라 부르며, 왁스생성온도는 유동점 측정과 함께 왁스오일의 거동연구 에 중요한 정보를 제공해 준다. 본 연구에서는 왁스가 함유된 모델오일을 제조하여, 왁스의 정량과 정성 적인 차이에 따른 왁스생성온도와 유동점의 변화를 살펴보았다. 물이 포함되지 않은 왁스함유 모델오일 의 경우, 그 투명성으로 인해 ASTM D2500을 통해 왁스생성온도 측정이 가능하다. 또한, 유동점 측정 도 같은 장치를 사용하는 ASTM D97을 사용하여 측정할 수 있다. 물이 함유된 에멀젼 모델오일의 경 우에는 시료의 불투명성으로 인해 우선 유동점을 중심으로 거동을 살펴보았다. 이후 에멀젼 모델오일의 왁스생성온도 측정은 적외선분광법을 활용하여 측정하였으며, 에멀젼을 형성하는 물의 함량에 따른 왁스 생성온도의 경향성은 고찰을 통해 추가적인 실험이 필요할 것으로 판단되었다.

The problem of disposal of brine due to increased MD/RO desalination plant has recently become a big social issue. The chlor-alkali process through electrolysis of brine has been studied as a method to overcome this problem. In order to increase the electrolysis efficiency, a pretreatment process for removal of hard substances must be preceded. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of removal of hardness through chemical precipitation. As a result, Ca was greatly influenced by addition of Na2CO3, and Mg was strongly influenced by pH. Also, the addition of NaOH and Na2CO3 enabled simultaneous removal of Ca and Mg, and showed a removal efficiency of 99.9% or more. Finally, the residual concentrations of Ca and Mg in the brine after the reaction were 0.14 and 0.13 mg/L, respectively. Saturation index was calculated using Visual MINTEQ 3.1, and solid phase analysis of the precipitate was performed by FE-SEM and PXRD analysis. It was confirmed that precipitate formed by the formation of calcite and brucite.

Zirconium(Zr) nuclear fuel cladding tubes are made using a three-time pilgering and annealing process. In order to remove the oxidized layer and impurities on the surface of the tube, a pickling process is required. Zr is dissolved in HF and HNO3 mixed acid during the process and pickling waste acid, including dissolved Zr, is totally discarded after being neutralized. In this study, the waste acid was recycled by adding BaF2, which reacted with the Zr ion involved in the waste acid; Ba2ZrF8 was subsequently precipitated due to its low solubility in water. It is very difficult to extract zirconium from the as-recovered Ba2ZrF8 because its melting temperature is 1031 oC. Hence, we tried to recover Zr using an electrowinning process with a low temperature molten salt compound that was fabricated by adding ZrF4 to Ba2ZrF8 to decrease the melting point. Change of the Zr redox potential was observed using cyclic voltammetry; the voltage change of the cell was observed by polarization and chronopotentiometry. The structure of the electrodeposited Zr was analyzed and the electrodeposition characteristics were also evaluated.

Coagulation/precipitation process has been widely used for the removal of phosphate within domestic wastewater. Although Fe and Al are typical coagulants used for phosphate removal, these have some shortages such as color problem and low sedimentation velocity. In this study, both Fe and Al were used to overcome the shortages caused by using single one, and anionic polymer coagulant was additionally used to enhance sedimentation velocity of the precipitate formed. Batch experiments using a jar test were conducted with real wastewater, which was an effluent of the second sedimentation tank in domestic wastewater treatment plant. Response Surface Methodology was used to examine the responsibility of each parameter on phosphate removal as well as to optimize the dosage of the three coagulants. Economic analysis was also done on the basis of selling prices of the coagulants in the field. Phosphate removal efficiency of Fe(III) was 30% higher than those of Fe(II). Considering chemical price, optimum dosage for achieving residual phosphate concentration below 0.2 mg/L were determined to be 18.14 mg/L of Fe(III), 2.60 mg/L of Al, and 1.64 mg/L of polymer coagulant.

분리막조 전단 침전조 하부에 경사판을 설치하고, 분리조의 활성슬러지는 막 모듈 하부의 공기에 의한 유동에너지를 이용하여 경사판 침전조와 분리조의 상부 위어를 통하여 이동할 수 있게 하였다. 분리조에 TORAY사의 침지식평막 (MEMBRAYTM)을 50 m3/일 규모로 설치하고, 20.4 LMH의 플럭스로 운전하였다. 경사판을 설치하지 않은 경우, 분리조의 MLSS가 침전조 보다 1,800 mg/L 높았 고, 경사판을 설치한 결과, 분리조의 MLSS 농도가 침전조 보다 1,300 mg/L 높 아 경사판이 분리조의 MLSS 농도를 저감하였다. 또한, 침전조와 분리막조의 유 로구간인 위어의 높이를 20, 30 및 40 cm로 증가시킬수록 MLSS의 이동이 보다 증가하여 막분리조의 MLSS 농도를 낮출 수 있었다.

In order to know the characteristic roles of salivary protein complex (SPC) the gel-filtration chromatography was performed using the unstimulated and the stimulated whole saliva separately. The first and second dominant SPC peaks were fractionated and analyzed by immunoprecipitation HPLC (IP-HPLC) using antibodies against the essential salivary proteins including α-amylase, mucin-1, proline rich proteins (PRPs), histatin, cystatin, LL-37, lysozyme, lactoferrin, -defensin-1, -2, -3, IgA, transglutaminase 4 (TGase 4), mucocidin, α1-antitrypsin, cathepsin G. In the gel-filtration chromatography the stimulated whole saliva showed much reduced amount of SPCs than the unstimulated whole saliva, but the proportional patterns of both whole saliva were almost similar each other. Through IP-HPLC analysis both of the first and second dominant SPCs were variably positive for the essential salivary proteins, however, α-amylase, mucin-1, PRPs, lysozyme, and cathepsin G were predominant in the first dominant SPC, while cystatin, lactoferrin, β-defensin-1, -2,-3, IgA, mucocidin, TGase 4, and α1-antitrypsin were predominant in the second dominant SPC. And more, the α1-antitrypsin and cathepsin G which were mostly derived from gingival crevicular fluid were also consistently found in the SPCs. These data may suggest that the first dominant SPC, rich in α-amylase, mucin-1, PRPs, lysozyme, and cathepsin G, may play a role in food digestion, protein degradation, and mucosa lubrication, while the second dominant SPC, rich in cystatin, lactoferrin, β-defensin-1, -2, -3, mucocidin, IgA, TGase 4, and α1-antitrypsin, may play a role in the mucosa protection and antimicrobial defense.